Top the Tater

Why Target?

For the past three years since this returned to Minnesota, He's been able to find his ftavorite chip dip in your dairy section. Valentines  Eve, after choosing $200 worth of electronics, dvds, blurays and the favorite chip, rounded to where the dairy section formerly was. Just yogurt. No sour cream, no Top the Tater to be seen. Much time was spent looking for the product  bought at Tarrget more than any other store in Minnesota.  Sour cream was found at feet level a couple aisles over.  The red phone eas called, she looked for me and with me and asked up the chain of knowledge to learn it has been discontinued. 

There are no longer any refridgerated chip dips but the chip aisle is over flowing.  It is understood dairy is a perishable and under performing brands are routinely dropped by megastores for false economy. 

More than ten years ago WalMart and Kroger learned when they drop someone's tavorite brand they likely lose that customers regular grocery business.  Target famously uses consumer buying habits to infer when female shoppers may be pregnent. How can they fail to notice the complimentary relationship of chips and dip. Did they miss the chip/dip serving platters designed by some also ran in their boutique aisle.?

Loss leaders in the grocery business  a freshman in college Econ 101 topic. If a store does not sell bread, shoppers avoid it.

To demonstrate an economic loss to the bottom line, this Target shopper demonstratively chose to abandon half the items in my cart at the cashier. I wonder how much the chip dip was losing? Without mentioning the brand, the cashier was able to name the discontinued brand. ISo not the only one to mention it apparently.  But the metrics do not show what we do not buy. Which is why that action was used. For the lack of a $3 dip, Target lost around $100 bucks of doodads unneeded or wanted ezpecially. This might be the only one you know about. 

A quick trip to Target to get 50 blank DVDs. The dip was a maybe, but much higher in my wants than the bluetooth items I alao picked up.   Target is not a grodery store. The expanded grocery offerings was supposed to make it more convenient to shop at Target.   It was not very convient when a 30 minute trip doubled and a half, involved 4 team members two radios and the help phone.  CVS is not a grocery store but they sell refridgerated dips with far fewer choices for chips.

This blogger has a Master of Science degree in Economics from a southern research university. (UK 1992)

Please note, by calling Target designers "some also ran" I am not criticizing the designers.  Some of my best friends are designers.  Plus the "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" Ad stopped me in my tracks and could be the behinning of a new career choice for me. But really Target designers are very good. Their advertising agency is very good. But people fail. The guy that discontinued refridgerated dips but kept the chips has failed me. The tech guy that thinks an HVAC vender needs access to Target Customer payment data, should be sentenced to work behind locked doors ovetnight at a Wal-Mart.

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